'It may as well be Brands Hatch around here'

Concerned homeowners have reported drivers meeting in the Butler Road car park regularly on Friday and Saturday nights.

The group of cars then race up and down Butler Road and around other areas of Halstead and neighbouring villages.

Some residents have also called for speed bumps to be introduced on White Horse Avenue and Conies Road, as well as complaining of people speed - ing down Parsonage Street.

One elderly resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “It is horrific sometimes, it may as well be Brands Hatch around here.

“It is a massive risk, so many of them fly down the road at ridiculous speeds, but I don’t know how you can stop it really.

“You would need sleeping policeman all along the road but I don’t think that would even deter them.

“Someone will have to be killed before they do anything, and it is absolutely disgusting.

“Even the weather doesn’t stop them, the roads are wet and slippery but that doesn’t stop them.”

Another resident, who has lived on the road for almost five years, said: “This has been an issue the whole time I have lived there, even when we had the police station in Halstead they took no notice.

“So they’re certainly not going to do anything now that they are 20 minutes away.

“It is an absolute and complete waste of time re - porting this to the police, nothing has ever come of it.

“There have been incidents in the past in the car park when big groups gather and they were fighting and using drugs, if police don’t come out for that they won’t come out for a bit of speeding.”

A third resident said: “I don’t think the police can do much because they are so thin on the ground, I don’t think they will be able to do anything unless it gets really out of hand or something quite nasty happens, and I think until then we have to grit our teeth and get on with it.”

A police casualty reduction officer has spoken out to reassure residents concerned about boy racers.

Adam Pipe, of Essex Police, said: “We do weekly operations, mainly at weekends, that react to known meetings of where these individuals are going to meet.

“Halstead can now be on our radar if residents are saying there is an issue but we just have to bear in mind that at weekends in particular our attention will be drawn to where the problem is most significant and where the risk is greater, which at the moment is some of the big towns, but that is not to say we wont come out to Halstead, because I can now get that looked at.

“Unfortunately Halstead is suffering like the majority of towns in Essex.

“These young people who meet in Halstead are likely to be going to some of the bigger meets and will see police activity.

“It is not just Essex, neighbouring counties have the same issue.”

Residents with concerns should email driving. complaint@essex.pnn.police. uk, with information relating to specific vehicles, times and locations.